Chamois in the Bible. The wild sheep, or mouflon. - Animal Life in the Scriptures

Ancient Chamois. THE Chamois of the Scripture (Deut. xiv. 5) is believed to have been a species of mountain sheep, wild, and not uncommon in the Mokattam rocks near Cairo, and found also in Sinai. The well-known mountain goat of Southern Europe, called the chamois. is not known in Syria or Israel. - Animals, Birds, Insects, And Reptiles Of The Bible

Chamois in Easton's Bible Dictionary only in Deut. 14:5 (Heb. zemer), an animal of the deer or
gazelle species. It bears this Hebrew name from its
leaping or
springing. The animal intended is probably the wild
sheep (Ovis
tragelephus), which is still found in Sinai and in the
broken
ridges of Stony Arabia. The LXX. and Vulgate render
the word by
camelopardus, i.e., the giraffe; but this is an animal
of
Central Africa, and is not at all known in Syria.http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/C/Chamois/

Chamois in Fausset's Bible DictionaryZemer, from zaamar to leap. Allowed as clean food (Deuteronomy
14:5). The giraffe according to Gosse, (from the Arabic
version and the Septuagint). The objection is, the giraffe is
not a native of Israel; but it is of Nubia, and may have been
of the Arabian peninsula at the Exodus. Clearly it is not the
chamois found only on high peaks of the Alps, auras, and
Caucasus. It may be some other species of antelope. Colossians
Smith suggests the aoudad mountain sheep. The Syriac has "the
mountain goat."http://www.bible-history.com/faussets/C/Chamois/

Chamois in Smiths Bible Dictionary(pronounced often shame), the translation of the Hebrew zemer
in De 14:5 But the translation is incorrect; for there is no
evidence that the chamois have ever been seen in Israel or the
Lebanon. It is probable that some mountain sheep is intended.http://www.bible-history.com/smiths/C/Chamois/

Chamois in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBEsham'-i, sha-mwa', sha-moi' (zemer; kamelopdrdalis): Occurs
only once in the Bible, i.e. in the list of clean animals in
Dt 14:5. Gesenius refers to the verb zamar, "to sing," and
suggests the association of dancing or leaping, indicating
thereby an active animal. M'Lean in Encyclopedia Biblica
cites the rendering of the Targums dica', or "wild goat."
Now there are two wild goats in Israel. The better known is
the ibex of the South, which may well be the ya`el (English
Versions, "wild goat"; Job 39:1; Ps 104:18; 1 Sam 24:2), as
well as the 'aqqo (English Version, "wild goat," Dt 14:5).
The other is the pasang or Persian wild goat which ranges
from the Northeast of Israel and the Syrian desert to
Persia, and which may be the zemer (English Versions
"chamois"). The accompanying illustration, which is taken
from the Royal Natural History, shows the male and female
and young. The male is distinguished by its larger horns and
goatee. The horns are in size and curvature very similar to
those of the ibex (see GOAT, section 2) , but the front edge
is like a nicked blade instead of being thick and knotty as
in the ibex. Like the ibex it is at home among the rocks,
and climbs apparently impossible cliffs with marvelous ease.
Tristram (NHB) who is followed by Post (HDB) suggests that
zemer may be the Barbary sheep (Ovis tragelaphus), though
the latter is only known to inhabit the Atlas Mountains,
from the Atlantic to Tunis. Tristram supports his view by
reference to a kebsh ("ram") which the Arabs say lives in
the mountains of Sinai, though they have apparently neither
horns nor skins to show as trophies, and it is admitted that
no European has seen it. The true chamois (Rupicapra tragus)
inhabits the high mountains from t he Pyrenees to the
Caucasus, and there is no reason to suppose that it was ever
found in Syria or Israel.
Alfred Ely Dayhttp://www.bible-history.com/isbe/C/CHAMOIS/

Chamois in WikipediaChamois (antilope rupicapra) is now totally unknown in western Asia, where it very probably never existed. The opinion of those who see it in the Hebrew zémér (Deuteronomy 14:5) should consequently be entirely discarded (see Camelopardalis).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamois

Chamois Scripture - Deuteronomy 14:5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild
goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. http://www.bible-history.com/kjv/Deuteronomy/14/